Reading Time: 3 minutes Grazing leases are about to change for the first time since 1994 after years of work by Alberta Beef Producers and the seven grazing lease associations in the province. The quarter-century-old system could have attracted potential tariffs on Canadian cattle, so the changes were necessary, said Rich Smith, executive director of Alberta Beef Producers. “The […] Read more
New grazing lease plan a win for producers, say cattle groups
The groups feared long-frozen rental rates would be seen as a subsidy and lead to a countervailing duty
Speaking with one voice is a win for farmers, says Team Alberta
New joint website is the latest effort by four main crop commissions to ‘amplify’ their shared policy positions
Reading Time: 3 minutes The province’s four main crop commissions have taken another step towards speaking with one voice. The quartet — which collectively has 20,000 members — came together four years ago to form Team Alberta when the urban-centric NDP came to power. “We found it easier to talk to the new people who wanted information on agriculture […] Read more
Sniffing out trouble — canines trained to detect clubroot in the field
Josie and Adi blaze new path for quickly determining if a field is infected with the devastating canola disease
Reading Time: 4 minutes Any dog lover knows that dogs can do amazing things. Add to that list the ability to detect clubroot in canola. “The idea behind using dogs as detectors has been around for quite a long time. Using them to detect crop diseases has been around for the last five years or so,” said Michael Harding, […] Read more
Having a national strategy is working, say beef leaders
Sustainable beef effort, more funding, and greater industry co-operation cited as examples of progress
Reading Time: 3 minutes Having a national beef strategy has paid dividends and that’s why the sector has revised and updated it, say beef leaders. “This is an ongoing plan for the industry,” said Anne Wasko, chair of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, one of seven groups behind the strategy. “The vision of the national beef strategy is […] Read more
The need keeps growing for rural Alberta food banks
Reading Time: 3 minutes Times have been tough in Alberta, and that’s been obvious to volunteers at the Mayerthorpe Food Bank. There are just over 500 homes in the town but in many, it’s a struggle to put food on the table. “We serve about an average of 14 families a week,” said Tammy-Lee Gilroy, the food bank’s administrator. […] Read more
Province eases up on new Class 1 licensing rules but controversy persists
The Humboldt bus crash has thrust training of semi drivers into question but there’s no easy fix
Reading Time: 4 minutes The province is exempting drivers who recently sought to obtain a Class 1 licence from costly new training requirements — but the controversial issue is far from settled. “It’s kind of nice that they’re relaxing it for a few people — I hope they have more coming,” said Kendall Bevans, a Cardston-area farmer who has […] Read more
Film celebrates not just grass, but a special, overlooked habitat
Documentary shines a spotlight on grasslands and why they need to be protected and cherished
Reading Time: 3 minutes Not all superheroes wear capes — some put on work clothes and graze cows. Ranchers are the stars of a new mini-documentary called “Guardians of the Grasslands” and their mission is to protect this fast-disappearing habitat. Three-quarters of the country’s native grasslands have already been lost, and cattle are key to protecting those that remain […] Read more
The behind-the-scenes effort to tell beef’s story
Besieged beef sector aims to fight hyperbole with facts
Reading Time: 4 minutes It can seem like the ‘beef is bad’ crowd is scoring all the points in the battle to influence consumer attitudes. But the beef sector is fighting back — even if its efforts don’t get the same kind of headline-grabbing attention. One of the main initiatives is being conducted by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association that […] Read more
Demand is good for canola — if you can get it off the field
China still isn’t buying but crushers are, and there are seed export opportunities, too
Reading Time: 2 minutes Worries about China’s ban and other market woes have taken a back seat to weather issues for the province’s canola growers. The biggest challenge for many is getting the crop off before snow permanently covers their fields, said Alberta Canola general manager Ward Toma. “They can handle snow coming and going, but snow setting in […] Read more
Airdrie company employs hemp to go green
Just BioFiber’s modular construction blocks look like oversized Lego — but they’re made from hemp
Reading Time: 4 minutes [UPDATED: Nov. 5, 2019] The legalization of marijuana has — oddly enough — been good for business for one Alberta producer of construction materials. That’s because Airdrie-based Just BioFiber makes modular building blocks out of hemp fibre. Prior to pot’s legalization a year ago, people in the construction industry used to jokingly ask if their […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
